Section C4: BJT Characteristic Curves

It is sometimes helpful to view the characteristic curves of the transistor in

graphical form. This is very similar to the graphical approach used with
diodes, but now we have three possible points where something could be
happening (base, emitter, collector). We’re still going to concentrate on
normal active mode operation here and talk about the two pn junctions in
the BJT separately.

The forward biased junction

in the BJT follows the same
curve as we saw for the forward
biased diode. This set of
characteristics obeys the same
exponential relationship as the
diode, has the same turn on
voltage (0.7V for Si and 0.2V
for Ge at 25oC), and exhibits
the same temperature
dependence (-2.0 mV/oC for Si
and –2.5 mV/oC for Ge).

The general form of the base-

emitter characteristics are
presented to the right and
shows the behavior of the
emitter current (iE) as a
function of the voltage between
base and emitter (vBE), at a
given temperature, when the
voltage between the collector
and emitter (vCE) is held
constant (note that this is a
modification of Figure 4.7a in
your text). The inverse of the
slope of the curve about a
specified operating point (Q-
point) is the dynamic resistance (also referred to as the emitter
resistance) of the transistor – which is just rd from our diode days.

By making the following assumptions:

¾ the collector current is approximately equal to the emitter current (i.e.,

β>>1),
¾ the nonideality factor n is equal to one, and
¾ room temperature operation;

the emitter resistance may be calculated by (bear with me please, I don’t

like to have massive quantities of derivations, but I had to go back and
prove this to myself again so I decided to write it down):

v BE
1 di E I i
= = 0 e VT = E
re dv BE VT VT .

Substituting VT=26mV at room temperature, iE (iC) at the Q-point, and

solving for re (rd), we get

26mV
rd = re =
I CQ . (Equation 4.19)

Note that, if the temperature changes, VT will no longer be 26mV.

The actual iC-vBE characteristics behave identically to the curve above, but
have a scaling factor of α (I0 in the equation above becomes αI0). However,
since usually α ≈ 1, this is generally disregarded. Similarly, the iB-vBE
characteristics have the same appearance, but with a scaled current of I0/β.
Finally, the curves for a pnp transistor will look the same, but the polarity
on the base-emitter voltage will be switched (vBE becomes –vBE=vEB).

The second set of

characteristics we’re going to
be interested in is illustrated
to the right as a family of iC-
vCE curves (note that this is a
modified combination of
Figures 4.7(b) and 4.8 of your
text). Each of the curves in
this family illustrates the
dependence of the collector
current (iC) on the collector
emitter voltage (vCE) when
the base current (iB) has a
constant value (i.e., vBE is
held constant).

There are three distinct

regions of these characteristics that are of importance:
¾ As the magnitude of vCE decreases, there comes a point when the
collector voltage becomes less than the base voltage. When this happens,
the transistor leaves the linear region of operation and enters the
saturation region, which is highly nonlinear and is not usable for
amplification.
¾ The cutoff region of operation occurs for base currents near zero. In the
cutoff region, the collector current approaches zero in a nonlinear manner
and is also avoided for amplification applications.
¾ The linear region is where we want to be for amplification. In the linear
(or active) region the curves would ideally be horizontal straight lines,
indicating that the collector behaves as a constant current source
independent of the collector voltage, as illustrated in the hybrid-π model
(iC = βiB). Practically, these curves have a slight positive slope. If these
curves are extended to the left along the –vCE axis, they will converge to
a point known as the Early voltage, shown as –VA in the figure below (a
modified version of Figure 4.10 in your text).

The Early Voltage (note that VA > 0), is a figure of merit that is
dependent on the particular transistor and defines how close to ideal the
ideal behaves (for an ideal curve, the Early Voltage would be infinity).
The magnitude of the Early voltage typically falls in the range of 50 –
100V for practical devices.

Using the value of VA, we can define the output resistance of the
transistor (ro in the hybrid-π model or hoe-1 in the h-parameter model) for
a specific value of collector current. Although ro is strictly defined as the
inverse of the partial derivative of iC with respect to vCE at a constant
value of iB (yikes!), the same result is achieved by taking the inverse of
the slope of the curve and realizing that VA >> VCE:
 VA
ro =
IC . (Equation 4.21)

The characteristic curves for a transistor provide a

powerful tool in the design and analysis of transistor
circuits. Figure 4.9, slightly modified and presented
to the right, illustrates a simple transistor circuit. By
using KVL around the collector to emitter loop
(remember that the other side of VCC is tied to
ground), by using the approximation that iC ≈ iE, and
by restricting ourselves to the dc values of circuit
parameters,

VCC = I C (RC + RE ) + VCE . (Equation 4.20)

By defining the two extremes in this equation; i.e., when

¾ IC = 0, VCE= VCC and

¾ VCE=0, IC=VCC/(RE+RC);

the endpoints of the dc load line are defined as illustrated in the figure
below (Figure 4.8-ish of your text). The dc load line is determined by the
resistors RC and RE in the circuit, where the quantity RE+RC has been given
the designation Rdc, or dc circuit resistance, in the calculation of ICC. The
intersection of the dc load line with a specific iB curve defines the quiescent
point (Q-point) for circuit operation in terms of IBQ, ICQ and VCEQ. We’re just
talking about dc right now, but we’ll see that the Q-point represents the dc
bias, or starting point, for the transistor circuit and that the variations about
this point carry the information (ac signals) in the circuit. Also, the Rdc
designation will make more sense… we’ll see that under ac operation we
may have a different equivalent circuit resistance that, big surprise, we’re
going to call Rac!
We’ve now got enough information in terms of models and
characteristics to actually do something with the BJT! In the
remainder of this section of our studies, we’re going to discuss the
general characteristics of single stage BJT amplifiers in terms of
configurations, biasing, and power considerations. Hang on!